Monday, January 4, 2010

The history of control theory is amazingly interesting, starting with comparing evolution to the steam ball governor.

The action of this principle is exactly like that of the centrifugal governor of the steam engine, which checks and corrects any irregularities almost before they become evident; and in like manner no unbalanced deficiency in the animal kingdom can ever reach any conspicuous magnitude, because it would make itself felt at the very first step, by rendering existence difficult and extinction almost sure soon to follow

If you have the time this interview provides an interesting look at how it all got started.